


Fields Of Gold, Freedom To Grow

by GoldfishForHire



Series: The Magic And The Sun [2]
Category: DCU (Comics), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, Superman/Shazam: First Thunder, Superman: American Alien
Genre: Billy Batson gets more family, Clark Kent is a baby Superdad, Found Family, Gen, Minor Angst, The Kent Farm, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26261416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldfishForHire/pseuds/GoldfishForHire
Summary: Clark takes Billy to the Kent Farm to meet his folks and help with the harvest. There, they deal with some of the fears that both Clark and Billy have been having while other fears are kept safe until they can be addressed.
Relationships: Billy Batson & Clark Kent
Series: The Magic And The Sun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757779
Comments: 16
Kudos: 115





	Fields Of Gold, Freedom To Grow

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry that this took ten million years. Hopefully it's worth the wait.

It had been just over a month and a half since Billy had come to live with him in Metropolis and though they had mostly settled into something of a routine, they were still a little tentative. Bruce had made good on his word and had managed to get Billy legally placed into Clark’s custody as his godson. Billy had seemed interested in moving to Metropolis, though he had originally balked when he realized he would have to change schools. They had a handful of weeks before the new term, however, and Clark was hoping that they wouldn’t have to revisit the issue before then. He had faith though; while Billy liked familiarity, he reveled in novel experiences and eagerly sought out new information seemingly regardless of subject. Clark wasn’t sure if he was trying to get a feel for journalistic opportunity or if he was simply that naturally inquisitive. 

They’d spoken at length about their histories and powers, though Clark could tell that there were still things that Billy kept to himself, whether because he was used to the necessity, or because it was yet another response to the trauma of losing Scott, or because of something else entirely. But Billy had spoken openly about his parents. How they’d been archaeologists and balanced their time between being home with him, being in the field, and working at the university as part time professors. How they’d pull him out of class sometimes for a week here or there to come with them to a new site or to interview locals about things they’d found. 

In turn, Clark had told him about his own travels. Seeing the world from one disguise or another and how those instances had differed so significantly from his experiences as Superman. He’d shared how he landed the job at The Daily Planet and how he had initially tried to force a balance between his mundane life and his responsibilities as Superman before he realized that he had no choice but to let them ebb and flow as he adapted whatever immediate responsibilities he was shouldering to the situations at hand. He’d talked about growing up in Smallville and coming into his powers in unpredictable and oftentimes frightening ways and how the knowledge of his powers had evolved more or less into an open secret in their town and even a little about his stint at veterinary school. He’d talked about the people in Smallville and Pete and Lana and about his parents. How he took a couple weeks off every year at the beginning of summer to help kick off the harvest and again at the end of autumn to help wrap it up. He got so caught up in it that he had offhandedly asked Billy if he wanted to go this year. 

He’d frozen immediately. He’d become terrified that it was still too soon to introduce Billy to his family, that he’d jumped some obvious and critical step that he’d somehow forgotten the existence of. But then Billy lit up and started demanding specifics and Clark couldn’t help but smile back. Clark still had time on the temporary leave of absence he’d taken from the Planet when Billy moved in so they planned to leave earlier than Clark usually did to give them the chance to drive down to Kansas. Their trip had only stalled once when three wildfires in California merged and pushed Fire and Rescue past their limit. Superman and Captain Marvel were able to handle the blazes and prevent more devastation and then Clark and Billy were able to get back on the road. 

Now Clark glanced through the window as he paid for their gas at the little Main Street station in Smallville they’d pulled into before they made the final stretch to the farm. Billy was still sitting in the passenger seat, fiddling with the radio. For all his eagerness, the boy was also nervous. Clark desperately wanted to be able to reassure him, but the fact was that he was also nervous. These past few days he’d kept going over the assurances that Bruce had made and tried not to let himself doubt them but he never quite managed to completely banish the fear.

He collected his change and pushed open the storm door and smiled at Ben Patterson as he passed him, though the old farmer frowned and looked back to Clark’s rental and Billy inside it. “He kin to you?”

Affection and concern for the boy warred inside him as he tried to figure out what might be playing under Patterson’s careful tone. He kept a neutral smile on his lips regardless. “Sure is. That’s Billy, my godson.”

The old man didn’t turn his head but studied Clark out of the corner of his eye for a long moment. “And is he...akin to you?”

Clark stared blankly at the coded words and the other man harrumphed. “Are he and you of a kind is my meaning.”

Clark’s eyes widened. “Oh! Uh, no. I mean it’s a different, um, situation.”

Patterson grunted. “Your folks gonna need my plane again?”

Clark felt his cheeks flush at the reminder of his parents’ efforts to try to adjust in real time to the problems that came with the sudden emergence of his flying. “Uh, no. He doesn’t - we’ve got that part down.”

Patterson adjusted his hat and spat on the gravel. “I’ll have Dean haul it out to the property line. Your Pa should still know how to fly it.”

“That’s not - thank you. We appreciate it.”

The old man grunted again and walked into the station without a farewell and only raised a hand when Clark called one after him. He climbed into the car as Billy snickered at him.

“You don’t even know what you’re laughing at.” He told the boy as he switched gears and pulled out of the lot.

Billy grinned. “Didn’t have to hear you to see you get all awkward. You know him?”

“Of course. Ben Patterson. If you’re in Smallville, you know each other.”

“Hah. Well I’m in Smallville and they don’t know me.”

“Spoke too soon. I introduced you to him. Everyone in town’s gonna know you by sundown.” Clark glanced over and watched as Billy’s grin shrank into something more tentative. “Doesn’t matter what the specifics are, you’ll be family to the Kents forever now. At least, as far as Smallville’s gonna be concerned.”

Billy turned his head but Clark caught his widening smile in his reflection in the window and reached over to ruffle his hair. Billy squawked and reached up to block him but his eyes danced with laughter. The rest of the drive was quiet, but when they pulled onto the road that led to the farm Billy broke the silence. “You’re sure they won’t mind that I’m coming?”

“Positive.”

A beat and Billy gripped his hands together and then let them go. A whispered, “Think they’ll like me?”

An equally quiet, “They’ll love you, kiddo.”

Billy nodded once to himself and smoothed his hands along the legs of his jeans. Jon Kent was in one of the rocking chairs on the porch when they pulled in but he stood up and shouted into the house as they got out and shut the doors. Jon met them halfway and pulled Clark into an embrace and then clapped Billy on the shoulder.

Clark smiled. “Billy, this is my dad; Jonathan Kent. Pa, this is Billy; my godson.”

Jon grinned down at Billy. “Glad you boys could make it down. And so early too.”

Billy grinned back, relaxing. “Thank you, sir. I’m happy to be here.”

“We wouldn’t miss this, Pa. Though we did run into Ben.” Clark made a face. “He’s gonna have Dean bring the plane around sometime.”

Jon chuckled. Before anything more could be said the storm door opened, propped open by Martha Kent’s hip as she dried her hands on a tea towel before slinging it over her shoulder. “Well come on inside now, no sense in just standing at the door.”

Clark put a hand on Billy’s shoulder and steered him up the stairs. “Ma, this is Billy Batson. Billy, my Ma; Martha Kent.” 

Billy looked up the scant inches to the smiling woman’s face. “Thanks for having us, ma’am.”

“Ma’am!” Martha whacked Clark’s arm lightly with the towel and ignored his betrayed look. “I don’t know what my boy’s been filling your head with but we don’t stand on formalities here. You call me Ma just like Clark does.”

Billy looked wide eyed at her. “Yes ma’am - uh, Ma.”

She ushered them into the house ahead of her, Jon pausing to plant a kiss on her cheek as he passed. “You boys have had a long drive, so I’ll have supper on the table soon. Clark will show you where you’ll be staying and you can haul your things in after you’ve eaten.”

“We’ve got some time yet, so Clark and I can give you a brief tour of the barn and equipment and all that before we sit down.” Jon told Billy as Martha hugged Clark tight and Clark lifted her clear off her feet. “We’ll explain properly about how we go about the harvest after we eat. Don’t know if Clark’s gone over it already.”

Clark shot him a disgruntled look that was immediately ruined by the amusement bleeding into his eyes and the twitch of his lips. He opened his mouth but Jon cut him off. “Off with you now. See to your boy.”

Clark led Billy up the stairs and down the hall. “Ma and Pa are through the door at the end there. I’ll be in my old room on the left and you’ll be in the guest room just here.” Clark opened the doors to his and Billy’s rooms as he went along so the boy could see them. “Bathroom’s the next door over.”

Billy wandered back into the guest room to get a better look but it was fairly bare; just the bed, a chest of drawers, and a storage trunk at the foot of the bed. Clark stood aside as Billy headed back over to Clark’s room. The boy hesitated at the threshold and looked back at Clark, unsure if it was an invasion of privacy or not but Clark just gestured the go ahead and leaned against the door jam. 

Billy did a slow circuit of the room. He took in the pictures of the Kents, of Lana, of Pete, of Kenny, and of different combinations of them still filling the space on top of the dresser. He looked at the outdated space maps and shuttle schematics on the walls and then he looked up in amazement at the ceiling where a teenaged Clark had drawn the astronomical map above Smallville in as minute detail as he could. “Did you see this from here? Or did you fly up?”

“I could see it from here. I didn’t learn I could go into space until much later. Not until I almost flew into the -”

“The geese, yeah.” Billy laughed and looked back at him before continuing his tour of the small room. He made his way to the overstuffed bookcase and traced his hand along some of the spines. “We had some of these. When I lived with my parents.”

“You can take them if you want. Or any of the others.”

Billy turned a startled glance at him but Clark just shrugged. “They’re not doing anything here, and books are meant to be read.”

Billy bit his lip and turned back to the books, dragging his finger along one of the spines he’d already lingered on before moving along. Clark didn’t push but made a mental note to revisit the subject before they left. Maybe Billy would be more comfortable if the offer came from Ma or Pa. Billy pulled a thick tome from the shelf that Clark recognized as one of the titles from the required reading list of one of his university courses and which the professor had only ever referenced once or twice. He flipped through it and turned back to Clark. “No offense, but I didn’t quite believe you when you said you were studying to be a veterinarian.”

Clark snorted. “You thought I made it up?”

Billy shrugged. “No, not really. But I guess I didn’t picture it as something that really happened. But it did.”

Clark tilted his head. “Yeah. I didn’t follow it through, though.”

“Why?”

“Why did I pursue it or why did I stop?”

Billy made a face. “Both.” The ‘obviously’ was unsaid though definitely implied. But Billy was serious about wanting to be a journalist which meant he needed to learn to be specific and thorough with his questions.

“I took it because I thought it would be a good idea, following in Ma’s footsteps like that. Plus it’s a real useful trade around here.”

“Is she still a veterinarian?”

Clark shrugged again. “She stopped practicing for a while. But yeah, she is again now. She said she started because it would be smart to have another source of income in case something ever went wrong on the farm. A blight, or a tornado or something.”

“Why’d she stop?”

Clark’s gazed wavered briefly. “She never told me.” But Billy was both a very smart and very sweet kid and Clark knew he would pick up on long buried doubts and insecurities.

“So why’d you stop?” 

Clark flashed a grateful smile at the boy for not lingering. “I won a trip to the Bahamas and I ended up uh, accidentally impersonating Bruce Wayne. And along the way I learned some things about myself. And I confronted some things I already knew but hadn’t yet had the courage to act on.”

Billy looked intrigued. “Like what?”

“Like the fact that I am just a tiny creature.”

“What? Clark, that makes no sense. And go back to the part about Bruce Wayne. How do you accidentally impersonate someone like that?” 

Clark laughed again. “Come on. Dinner’s gonna be ready soon and Pa still wants to show you the equipment.”

Billy looked torn between wanting to demand his answers and wanting to explore the farm a little bit. But when Clark turned to go, he only huffed a breath and trotted to catch up.

“You could explain as we go.”

“I’ll explain when you’re older.”

“Technically I’m already older than I was when you mentioned it.”

Clark snorted.”Nice try kid. No dice.”

They headed into the kitchen where Martha waved them toward the kitchen door and Clark led Billy out back.

“Don’t you want to get it off your chest? You know, so there are no major secrets between us?”

Clark grinned and looked over his shoulder. “You really want to know?”

“Yes!”

“Then we can make it a reward to look forward to. Work on getting better at securing exclusives, and maybe then I’ll give you that one.”

Billy groaned loudly which only made Clark laugh. Jon was leaning against the fence around the garden and smiled as they walked up. “See you boys are having fun already.”

Billy snorted. “Power’s just going to Clark’s head.”

Jon guffawed and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Poor kid. Come on, I’ll introduce you to what we’ll be using tomorrow.”

They showed Billy the combine and all its attachments and let him climb in to look around, though Jon said that they weren’t going to let him drive it “This year, at least. Though there’s no reason to rule out letting you have a try next year.” as he ignored the glance that Clark threw him. They showed him the fields and explained how the crops were divided so they knew what parts to harvest when. When they finished with talk of the harvest until after supper they sidetracked and showed Billy the barn, the horses in the pasture, and the chickens and guinea fowl in the coop and run. They were making their way back to the house when Martha stepped outside to wave them back in and called to Jon when they got close enough, “Do you want the horses brought in now?”

Jon turned his head to study the red and purple of sunset edging onto the clouds. “Might as well.”

“We’ve got it, Pa.” Clark offered.

“Yeah?” he teased. “Two horses not a match for Superman and The World’s Mightiest Mortal?”

Billy grinned. “SHAZAM!” The flash of lightning bolted down and struck him, letting him lift off the ground smugly. “Don’t worry; we’ve got it handled.”

“No powers on the farm.” Clark looked over.

“Oh hush.” Martha waved him off. “Let the kid be.”

Clark gaped at her. “Ma!”

Clark didn’t glance over to confirm Captain Marvel’s look of vindication, but he could feel it’s presence and sighed. “Do you know how to bring the horses into the barn?”

Captain Marvel blinked and then recited, “Approach the horse on it’s left side and secure it’s head with your right hand. Bring the bridle over it’s head with your left hand and fasten it via the ties, clasps, or snaps. Check the fit. Attach the lead to the bridle and remain on the left side. Walk it to the barn and to it’s stall.”

Jon and Martha’s brows lifted as he spoke. Clark nodded. “You do one and I’ll do the other in case you have any questions.”

Captain Marvel grinned and took off, but Clark called after him. “I’m going to walk because those are the actual rules.”

He couldn’t stop the grin that forced its way onto his mouth when the Captain’s response was to add some loops to his flight as the three of them watched.

“That was some impressive information recall.” Jon said.

Clark nodded. “It’s called the Wisdom of Solomon. When I first worked with him, he used it to correctly identify the creatures we were fighting despite never having dealt with them before. I just asked him if he knew what they were and then suddenly he did.”

“There’s a lot more to wisdom than simply knowing facts, even being able to pull information you’ve never learned.” Jon looked at Clark carefully. “Name seems a tad misleading”

Clark nodded but kept his gaze on the caped figure holding a hand out to one of the horses. “Could be. Or maybe he just hasn’t found all the edges yet. He can pull facts about just about anything. But I told him about going to space and he wondered if he would be able to go too.”

Martha shared a glance with Jon. “He couldn’t just pull that information?”

“Nope.”

“Seems an odd quirk; to be able to know about anything but yourself.” She turned back to watch as the horse the Captain was reaching for walked away.

“If it is a quirk.”

Jon adjusted his hat. “You said someone gave him his powers. Someone he seems to still consider an authority?”

Clark pressed his lips into a tight line. “Yep. And that someone doesn’t seem overly amenable to changing any of that”

“Funny that.” Martha pulled her light shawl a little closer as the evening chill set in just a little bit more. “I suppose it’s safe to say that the information Billy gets is information from this figure. This wizard.”

Clark nodded. “So the question is; is the information he gets information the wizard knows, or information as the wizard sees it? Or something else entirely?”

“You’ve talked to him about biases?”

“He wants to be a reporter. We talk about it all the time. But I don’t want to force the connection. Not yet. I don’t want to scare him away from me or from the power. I’ve only met the wizard once and the weight Billy struggles with seemed to weigh on him too, but not enough to do anything about it. I don’t want to risk the wizard deciding he needs a tighter leash if Billy gets scared and tries to cut and run.”

Jon shifted his weight. “So what are you going to do in the meantime?”

“There’s a magic user in the League. Zatanna. I’ve asked her to take a look at Captain Marvel’s capabilities and restrictions. And I’ve asked her to see if she can determine whether or not the choices Billy makes as Captain Marvel are actually entirely his choice, and if they are, then whether or not it’s likely to remain that way.”

“You’re looking at something that overt?”

Clark was quiet for several long moments and Martha and Jon shared another look. Then, “There’s another individual. Captain Marvel has had a couple run-ins with him already. He’s...got a similar skill set as Billy. His name is Black Adam. I don’t know that much about him, but I do know that Black Adam and his vessel are at odds. They seem to be two wholly separate beings and consciousnesses in a way that Billy and Captain Marvel aren’t. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe their situations are similar but not the same. Maybe I’m completely misunderstanding Black Adam’s situation.”

“But you don’t know.”

“But I don’t know.”

The three of them stood there for a moment, watching the boy in the form of a man. Eventually Clark shook his head. “But that’s not something we can solve today. Go on and head back inside. I’ll help him out and then we’ll get to the table. Back in a few.” He smiled at his folks and gave a half wave.

He headed to the pasture but took a detour to the barn to grab the tack they’d need. As he approached the gate, Captain Marvel waved at him with his entire arm. “Hey. That took you forever. Are you that out of practice just walking or do you really think humans go that slow?”

Clark cocked a brow at the teasing. “Maybe I was just giving you a chance to try it yourself. Might have been easier if you actually grabbed these.” He held out a bridle and lead to the Captain. 

Marvel flushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, maybe.”

“And stop that. Be yourself, Billy. I want it to be you learning this stuff. I want it to be you trying here. Not Captain Marvel.”

The Captain opened his mouth, then hesitated. “SHAZAM!”

Clark walked Billy through the process. Billy had all the technical and objective aspects down already, but Clark told him their names, Mable and Brook, what their temperaments were like, and how to sooth them if you accidentally stressed or frightened them. They were able to lead the horses back into the barn without a problem and Clark showed him how to make sure they were secured and that all the doors were locked the way they needed to be.

They walked back to the house and Billy drawled, “You know, I could have done all that as Captain Marvel. Probably even would have been easier.”

“Could have, I suppose. But that’s not the point. Captain Marvel might be easier, but Billy Batson matters more. Across all metrics.”

Billy stopped walking but Clark carried on another few paces before he stopped too, turning to the side so he was neither facing away from nor toward Billy. Letting the kid hide from him while also letting him know that he didn’t have to. But Billy didn’t say anything. Just shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking again. When Billy caught up, Clark turned again to walk with him. He reached out to ruffle the kid’s hair but Billy leaned hard into the touch so Clark just gentled into the affirming contact. As they neared the stairs that led to the kitchen, Clark let his hand slide down from Billy’s head to stop at the kid’s nape, firm and grounding. Billy took a breath and let Clark steer him from the dark and into the warm light of his family’s home.


End file.
